Probably a good idea.

Hiya all,

Sorry its been a few days but what with Missy not letting me have a moment to myself and constructing some built in wardrobes (B&Q, not bad in the end lol) I havent had much time.

Update :

I thought I would post you all an update to let you know how things are going. Missy is recovering well from her speying last week. It has only been 4 days but she is bouncing around all ready Eating us out of house and home and literally picking anything up in her mouth and moving it to the other side of the room lol.

The crying on an evening has been pretty consistant the last few nights. She is easier to put to bed and 60% of the time walks in on her own accord (I caught her asleep in there today ) She cries and makes some strange noises for 15-30 mins depending on how tired she is I suppose and then calms down. Providing I dont move much and disturb her she has a pretty much silent night after that.

She certainly does not dislike the crate as she wouldnt go in there, it is the fact that we are leaving her that she doesnt like. Well she is gonna have to get used to it. She is quiet now, and she was put to bed at 11.00pm, it is 11.25pm so not too bad.

I can see me wanting alot more advice over the coming months, she is a little terror when she wants to be and then when you say "NO" she sits back and looks at us as if to see "what!!! me!!!! never!!! I wouldnt do something like that" lol She is settling in fine, and we are putting her in her "bed" on a day for half an hour and that seems to be doing the trick.

I think now, or hope now, that it is a matter of routine for her. My wife and I live pretty much to a routine so she will get used to it soon (another cry from her lol....i thought it was too good to be true. Just trying it on I am thinking ) She is feeling very comfortable here now and has started to bark when someone knocks at the door as if to say, this is my house. I am gonna stick to our nightly routine of hot water bottles, a full kong, the radio and ingoring the crying. She does settle eventually, I just hope the crying lessons over the years to come.

Thanks again for the help, I will keep you all informed.

awwww...methinks by your posts you are a teensy bit smitten on your new arrival.....awwwwwwww

Hiya again,

Totally Smitten

All is still the same, Missy is still crying when she goes in her crate but it does stop thankgod. How long do you think she will be like this until she happily goes in her crate on a night? Will she get over it one day and just accept that this is where she goes on a night?

Thanks in advance

Hi there Roper.... she will settle down, my Indy has been in a crate from about 3 months she's a year old now, from memory she settled down after a few days.

Throw some treats in and make the crate a fun place to be, i even sat in it with indy!

Just dont do as i did which put us back a step, and chuck her in there when you are unhappy with her.

She'll get to love her crate

It varies...but it will happen...as sniper says keep it happy and fun in there...perhaps have a special 'treat' in her kong that she oNLY gets in there...that can help...sounds like you've really moved forward with her, she'll get there!!!!

Hiya all,

Well I thought I would post another update and basically ask what I am doing wrong!!!!

I have just had to go in the kitchen and shout at her because she was making a right noise. Now normally I would ignore her cries but she has started trying to escape out of her crate and I could hear her pouncing around it and shaking it!!!! I had to go in there because I didnt want her hurting herself

I made the mistake lastnight of not locking the crate properley and she managed to squeeze out of the door even though it was half bolted shut! When I went in to see what the noise was I noticed then it was her pouncing around the kitchen obviousley at the fact she had managed to get out of her crate. I gave her a stern no, and naughty and opened the crate and she walked back in fine, then I shut it properley and for about 10 mins she was crashing around it but it stopped.

Tonight she seemed to want to try again!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However I did make sure it was locked tonight hence why she was mad because she couldnt get out. It got so bad after 15 minutes I have just had to go in and shout at her. To be honest it seems to have done the trick because she hasnt muttered a noise since (about 10 mins).....I wonder how long that will last!!!!

So all of the obvious questions come up, is she getting enough excersise during the day and has she got things to do.....well she goes out 3-4 times a day for 20-30 minute walks, my wife has a horse so we have just introduced Missy and she loves him awe. She has loads of toys, chew things, she has a hot water bottle, a kong, and her balls, a teddy, a nice bed and water in her crate. Her kong is only given to her on a night full with meat and treats.

She doesnt mind going in her crate at all. She was asleep for 30 mins in there today, she only woke up and came out because I thought she was a bit too quite and went to find her, and low and behold asleep in her crate!!!

Tonight at 11pm I just let her out for a wee, did the nightly routine and she was fine, she even willingly went in her crate and sat there waiting for her Kong. I closed the door, turned the light off and once she has finished her Kong all hell breaks loose. It is only happening for upto an hour a night but still, she has been here over 2 weeks, and the same thing everynight, why is she trying to escape the crate when clearly she likes it? Incidentally she went in her crate today because she was after attention and I didnt give her it so she went and sulked

I am in all day and even when my wife is at home and I leave the room she will cry for me. She has even managed to get upstairs tonight after me by squeezing between the bars in the baby gate!! how I dont know but she did!!! I am scared she is getting too attached to me, however I cant exactly leave her at home all day.

Should I start to lock her in the crate on a day to have an hour away from me?

My wife lets her go to sleep on her knee for an hour on the sofa when she gets home from work, do you think this is a bad idea or does it really not matter?

Sorry to go on again, its just I know she is fine with being in there, its frustrating that she is still trying it on even after a couple of weeks.

Any advice as usual will be really helpful.

She hasnt made a sound since I shouted at her, do you think that might do the trick? If she starts playing up again should I go in and tell her off again? or is that just starting a cycle of her crying, barking, generally creating in order to get me to go in there and see her?

OOHHHH Puppies ehh, I havent got children yet, and I am sure they are harder, ooohhhhh us men, arent we wimps lol

Hiya!!!!
Hard to say what's going on without seeing her, but one thing's for sure, she's a very lucky puppy to have you guys, who are so loving and willing to sort out any problems she may have. Good on you.

Sounds like she's attention seeking...she wants you so she whines or creates havoc...unfortunatley she escaped once and so was rewarded for that behaviour by 1) escaping and 2) getting you!!!!! I think you have reached the point where she needs to be told 'no' when she starts to create. Our current pup did this..in the end what we did was say 'no' in the room, then we gradually started to say it outside the room, so he wasn't getting anything from us other than a telling off!!!! It took time ( about a month and a half altogether but he also had chronic diarhea (can never spell that) in the meantime!!!!) I'd keep going, you're doing nothing wrong.
As for cuddles with your wife...(pup not you!!!!!) why not???? You have to do what makes you all happy...I wouldn't say it's a problem (others may disagree here) as long as she's happy in her crate at other times.
As for her sulking in her crate when she didn't receive attention...I'd do this a couple of times a day if you can...ignore her ( hard as it is) andhope fully she'll do that again...it wasn't so much sulking as understanding nothing more exciting was going on and that she couldn't make anything more exciting happen...big step forward...
Keep going, personally, I think you're doing a fantastic job and she's a very lucky ( and beautiful) puppy. Awwwww. Ax

[QUOTE=Roper999]Hiya all,

Well I thought I would post another update and basically ask what I am doing wrong!!!! [QUOTE]

It is hard when things seem to be getting beter and then get worse again isnt it! Im afraid this is just part of having a puppy I think, I have had many small set backs along the way (Loki my puppy is 5 months old now) but I find generally if you weather it and continue with the routine then you will get through it fairly quickly.
It takes awhile for them to get used to being apart from you, Loki slept in a crate next to my bed until about 2 months ago and I would put my hand by the crate so he knew I was there he quickly stopped crying at night but then a month or so in he suddenly started crying at night again, this lasted about a week and he stoped again!
But it took alot longer for him to get used to being left in his crate when I wasnt around I felt awful leaving him crying, he would bark himself horse, and I thought he'd never get used to it but he has he still barks when I first leave the room but has usually stoped by the time I get to the front door! Im afraid it just takes time!

I have just had to go in the kitchen and shout at her because she was making a right noise. Now normally I would ignore her cries but she has started trying to escape out of her crate and I could hear her pouncing around it and shaking it!!!! I had to go in there because I didnt want her hurting herself

I had a similar problem of loki scratching trying to get out and throwing himself at the door, the best thing to do is just to ignore it, even if your telling her off the fact you have gone into her reinforces the behaviour and she may do it more often because she knows you will come in the room.


So all of the obvious questions come up, is she getting enough excersise during the day and has she got things to do.....well she goes out 3-4 times a day for 20-30 minute walks,

This seems like an awful lot of walks a day for a young puppy you really have to be careful not to over excercise her as it can do alot of damage to growing joints!


I think you need to carry on with what you are doing and you will get there! A couple of weeks really isnt very long, how long would it take you as a grown adult to settle into a new home, and a new routine with strangers? And you would at least know what is going on a puppy does not it must all be very confusing!
It is important to get puppies used to be left incase at sometime you do need to leave her so doing this for short periods through out the day might me a good idea.

I am no expert, just a fellow puppy owner, I am just speaking from my experiences and advice I have been given but I am still learning every day! I hope at least some of this will be a help to you, but I am sure someone more experience will be able to help more shortly!

Dogs tend to repeat whatever behaviour gets them a reward (this is the principle of reward based training!) Missy threw herself at the door a few times the other night and found herself outside the crate (quite a reward!) Now, when she's in the crate and wants to be outside, she's repeating the behaviour that preceded her liberation the last time. You just have to stick with what you're doing, sounds like you're learning a lot fast, and make sure you lock that crate properly EVERY time from now on. She'll soon find that thrashing about is not so profitable as she thought - and much less comfortable than sleeping!!!